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J. FRASER. GAS PRODUCER.

No. 603,328. Patented May 3,1898.

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j (No Model.) v I 3 Sheets-Sheet 3. 1' J.- FRASER.

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No. 603,328. Patented May 3,1898,

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JAMES FRASER, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

GAS-PRODUCER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 603,328, dated May 3,1898. Application filed June'lalsse. Serial No. 596,629. (No model.)

T0 at whom itmayoonoern:

Be it known thatLJAMES FRASER,engineer, a citizen of Great-Britain,residing at 9 Malvern Terrace, Barnsb'u'ry, 'London, N. England,'haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Gas-Producers forGas-Engines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to gas-producers for gas-engines and includesutilizing the heat of the exhaust-gases from a gas-engine by passing thesaid exhaust-gases through a regenerator or regenerators to absorb theheat and using the heat so'absorbed' to supplyheatto a gas-producer inorderv to maintain the contents of the producer at a sufficienttemperature to cause the carbonto continuously dc compose a supply ofsuperheated steam of high temperature and produce an inflammable gasfree from or nearly free from nitrogen.

A great advantage of the use of my invention is to greatly diminish theamount of air required to be "injected with the steam .into theincandescent fuel of a gas-producer.

Referring to the accompanying sheet of drawings, which-illustrate anapplication of my invention to' an engine and gas-producer, Figure 1 isa general elevation of a gas producer and engine as arranged incombination. Fig. 2 is an end elevation, and Fig. 3 is a correspondingplan. Fig. 4; is a vertical longitudinal section through thegas-producer and one of the regenerators shown in'the preceding figures,with-the relative position of the regenerators and producer slightlyaltered, so that a section may be shown through both, and also the pipearrangement slightly altered.

The gas-producer, connected up to the 'engine', together with theair-heater and the water evaporator and superheateniis shown in generalelevation at Figs. 1, 2, and 3, while the producer and regenerators indetail and on a larger scale, partly in section, are illustrated at Fig.4. v

The gas-producer consists of a producer proper, P, connected suitably toregenerating chambers M M; These regenerating-chambersv are heatedalternately by the exhaustgases from the engine A in order to make thewaste heat of thee'ngine available for the purpd's'e of producing pureinflammable gas without appreciable dilution of nitrogen. The

non-conducting material in order to retain the heat. The gases enter theregenerator or gasheater by way of a valve 0, and I so arrange thevalve-box with four ways m m-Z 1", controlled by a centrally-hungbutterfly or flap valve of the type common in producers, that in oneposition of the valve the gas-exhaust pipe L and the regenerator M arein communication at the same time as the producerpipe R and regeneratorM, while upon the rotation of the valve the exhaust-pipe L and theregenerator M come into communication simultaneously with theproducer-pipe R and the regenerator M. As is usual withfurnaceregenerators, the heatinggases are passed through one regeneratorto heat up the material within it while the other regenerator is beingused for the purpose of giving out heat to the gas which is to beheated.

At the top of the regenerators a valve 0 similar in construction to O isplaced, and by its means communication from the producer to either ofthe regenerators M M is secured when required, the valve 0 at the sametime putting the regenerator shut off from the producer in communicationwith the air-heater U, while the valve 0 is operated simultaneouslyinthe manner hereinbefore described in conjunction with O to insure properdistribution of the exhaust and producer gases. The exhaust-gases thuspass through one regenerator-say M-heating up. the fire-brick containedin it, then through the valve 0 to the pipe L, by which time the gaseshave been considerably reduced in temperature.

From L the gases, still hot, enter the airheater U, which does notrequire to be described in detail, give up a further quantity of heat tocompressed air, and then pass by way of the pipe L into the 'waterevaporater and superheater U, whence the exhaust is discharged into theatmosphere by the pipe L having lost nearly all its heat.

' The producer is started in the manner usual with ordinarygas-producers, and as the fuel is ignited and the steam-jet T and aircock 7% turned on the jet'acting as an airinjector, while the gasfirst'produced is used to heat up the regenerators and also to superheatthe steam for the jet. YVhen the necessary temperature of the steamproducer and regenerators has been reached, the gas-engine is started,the valve it shut off, and the valves 0 and o adjusted. The generationof watergas then takes place, operating as follows: \Vhile theexhaust-gases are heating M, the regenerator-surfaccs within M aregiving up the heat to the producer-gases. To effect this, the gaseouscontents of the producer are continuously circulated, passing away atthe top through the pipe Q, then down through the fire-brick surfaces inthe regenerator M, and out by way of the pipe R to enter the produceragain at the bottom by the pipe S. To cause the circulation, thesteam-injector 'l is used, which is more clearly seen at Fig. i. Thisinjector is supplied with steam under pressure partly heated from thewater evaporator and superheater and finally superheated to the requiredtemperature by a supply of gas from the producer. The gas which may beused in heating the superheater may be supplied through any ordinarypipe c011- nection from the annulus P to a ring, or a suitableflame-burner fixed in the superheater may be employed. The gases arethus caused to flow continuously through the producer P, entering thebottom and leaving at the top. In the section, Fig. -t, the gases areshown as leaving by the passage I at the top end of the interior X ofthe producer through the regulating-valve Q into the pipe Q, and also upinto the annulus P in the producer-cover down the pipe Q into Q, bothstreams of gas meeting there and passing into the regenerator, to bereturned again at the bottom by the valve 0 and the pipes R and S.

The circulation of the gases may be effected by other means-by a fan orblower, for instance.

By the hereinbefore described arrangements the gases of the producer Pare heated up to a considerable extent by the exhaustgases from theengine, and so the heat which would otherwise be wasted in theexhaustgases is restored to the system to be partly utilized to aidchemical action for the following reasons: In decomposing steam in thepresence of incandescent carbon it is not necessary that air or oxygenshould be admitted to maintain continuous generation of gas, providedthat the steam is admitted at a temperature above that at whichdecomposition begins, and as the carbon or coke could not be sensiblyreduced in temperature below that of the gas impinging against it(usually about 1,000 centigrade) the coke in immediate contact would beraised to a state of incandescence and the steam therefore bedecomposed. Again, the amount of carbonic acid remaining unreduced inpassing up the producer would make the gas very low in heating power ifthe circulating devices described were not employed. These devicesemploy a large quantity of the gas itself as a carrier of heat fromgenerator to producer, and as the temperature of the generators from thegascngine exhaust would be about 1,000 centigrade the extra heat for thereduction of the carbonic acid in the upper zone of the producer wouldbe supplied.

The gas to be used in the engine is taken from the producerby a pipe,such as V. (See Figs. 1 and 3.) It passes through the water evaporatorand superheater to give up its heat, then along the pipe V to a cooler Vwhence it passes by the pipe K to the engine gas-pump. The producer,shown in vertical section and part plan section at Fig. 4:, is fed withfuel through the pipes I down the pipe P into the body of the producerX. The passage P" is placed considerably above the lower lip of the pipeI The coal, which may be of any ordinary kind, heats up within the bodyof the producer X, and is also heated up by some of the circulating gasbeing forced through it, the relative or required amount being regulatedby the valve Q, the remainder of the gas being taken off for consumptionin the engine and, if necessary, the superheater U. The coal becomescoked, giving off volatile hydrocarbon, and the gases pass up into theannulus P which is open around its bottom edge and leads into the pipeP, and the amount in excess of that required for consumption in theengine, &c., passes into the pipe Q through the pipe Q. The remainingportion of the other gases arising from the incandescent fuel in theproducer below the lip of P pass away from the producer by the passage Pand enter the pipe Q to pro ceed to either of the regenerators M M.

The producer P is provided with a circular conical bottom \V, having aspiral groove on its surface and kept cool by water circulation withinit, entering by the pipe V and passing out by the pipe \V. This conicalbottom is rotated continuously by suitable gearing in such direction asto screw the contents of the producer-that is, ash and slag at thebottom of the producerout the ash-pit. The air heated in the heater U isutilized in the gasengine, which is of special construction.

In constructing these producers I regulate their dimensions, so that theamount of gas they could produce would be only slightly in excess of theamount required for a consumption, and I also automatically regulate theproduction to the required amount by regulating the quantity of steamsent in at the injector either by a throttle-valve controlled from theengine-governor or a pressure device controlled from the producer-top,there being a number of easilyapplied devices known to engineers forthis purpose.

Although I have described one form of producer, yet the construction maybe modified without departing from its main features.

It is to be distinctly understood that my invention, so far as relatesto gas production, may be carried into effect in combination with anyknown gas-engine.

It is also to be understood that although I have described part of theheat of the exhaust as being utilized to heat compressed air, yet I donot claim that as part of my invention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is c In combination in a gas-producingapparatus, the producer P, an air and steam supply leading thereto, apair of regenerators, a connection between the same and the producer P,the gas-engine, a connection between the" same and the regeneratorsand areversingvalve for controlling the connections between the regeneratorsand the gas-producer and between the gas-engine and the regeneratorsJAMES FRASER.

Witnesses:

FRANK WESLEY DICK, ALFRED SoPwI'rH.

